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    Laura Ngwenya, MD, PhD, FAANS

    Assoc Prof; Neurotrauma Center Director
    University of Cincinnati

    Dr. Laura Ngwenya, MD, PhD is the Director of the Neurotrauma Center at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology & Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Ngwenya is a board-certified neurosurgeon scientist with a clinical and research focus on traumatic brain injury (TBI). Dr. Ngwenya earned her MD, PhD from Boston University School of Medicine in 2008. She then underwent training in Neurological Surgery at The Ohio State University and completed a Neurotrauma fellowship at University of California San Francisco, prior to joining faculty at University of Cincinnati in 2016. Dr. Ngwenya was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021, and to Vice Chair of Research in 2023. Dr. Ngwenya has mentored over 30 trainees at varying career stages, and is the inaugural UC CAST Neurotrauma Fellowship Director. She is active in national neurotrauma organizations, serving on the Executive Committee of the AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care as the Awards Chair and Member-at-Large, as the CSNS Neurotrauma and Emergency Neurosurgery Committee Chair, and as Treasurer for the National Neurotrauma Society. Dr. Ngwenya is an active member of national and international initiatives such as TRACK-TBI, NASEM Action Collaborative on TBI Care, InTBIR-2, and COSBID. In addition, Dr. Ngwenya serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Neurotrauma. Dr. Ngwenya’s research focuses on mechanisms underlying poor cognitive recovery after TBI. She is Co-investigator and Site PI for the first clinical trial exploring the feasibility of treating TBI patients who have spreading depolarizations (SDs). Her translational neurotrauma laboratory uses a rodent model to define the effects of SDs on TBI recovery, with an ultimate goal of improving outcomes in patients. Dr. Ngwenya’s laboratory has been externally funded since 2017 and is currently funded by a DOD-ERP grant and a NIH/NINDS R01 award. Dr. Ngwenya has given over 100 invited talks, has over 110 peer-reviewed publications, and an H-index of 28.

    Disclosure(s): Abbott: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Biogen: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)

    Presentation(s):